what is your life?

The first thought I had of it came in church yesterday morning.  The congregation heard the account of a woman in the hospital who was given a maximum of two days to live. She wanted a chaplain to come and talk with her. In God's merciful providence, the hospital could not get a hold of the chaplain on call. So they called the deacon from our church.  He went in to see her, and the woman, barely able to talk, told him that she wanted her sins to be forgiven. "What does it mean to be a Christian?" she asked him. By God's grace, he told her the good news of Jesus Christ and prayed with her.  This woman found the rest she was searching for - in the Savior.  Merely hours before it happened... 

That afternoon, several families from our church went to visit the local nursing home.  As I played the piano and the children sang songs about the Gospel, my heart was filled with hope.  Here we were in a room filled with so many lonely people.  Those who did have family visiting were accompanied by their guests. Even staff members were present, or would peek their head in the room out of curiosity.  I don't think I had ever seen the room that full. I could barely make my way through the maze of wheelchairs and beds.  All of them were there eager and glad to hear our songs and the message of the Gospel.  What a glorious opportunity!  After we were through singing, I made my way around to say hello to some of the residents. As I held their frail hands, and gave them a smile and  a greeting, I felt an overwhelming sense of the eternal importance of what we were doing.  I had done this countless times before, but never felt such urgency, such joy in giving joy to others.  I prayed that their eyes would not just see cute children and kind people, but the beauty of Christ and the glory of the Gospel.  This could very well have been the last time I would have seen some of these familiar faces.  Praises be to God for the opportunity to show His love and sing of the hope of the Savior.  These dear people are soon to face it...

At home that evening, my family gathered in the living room to listen to an excellent message by CJ Mahaney. One of my sisters and I had heard it given a few weeks ago at Next, but it was the first time to hear it for the rest of the family.  Pastor Mahaney spoke on a topic of first importance, the death of Christ.  He quoted Charles Spurgeon: "We cannot think of that death too often." Then he went on to proclaim the glories of the forsaken Savior and what it meant for Him to be cut off from His Father, and be left to drink the cup of God's wrath alone. "He drained the cup dry, leaving us not a drop to drink. He experienced wrath so that we might experience grace. He was forsaken so that we might be forgiven by the Father... He screamed so that we might sing nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ. He was forsaken so that we might never be forsaken."  What astounding mercy!

Then he spoke about the dying Savior.  And I was reminded again of this fact.  It comes to all men.  The repeated phrase in Genesis 5 "...and he died" will one day be said of every one of us. Will one day be said of me.  And because of the Savior's death, I need not fear death.  Why? Because when I die, "the next face [I will see], and the next voice [I will hear], will be the Savior's!" Because He drained the cup of God's wrath dry for me, I know that only grace remains.  All because of His... DEATH.

We do not know what our futures hold.  But there is one thing certain to happen to all of us... It is the one thing that happens to everyone. Yet it is the one thing we treat as if it will never happen.  Or something that is still a long way off.  Yet James tells us... "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (James 4:14) What does this mean?  It doesn't matter if we live to be a hundred years old, or if we died this very day.  Our lives will be over before we know it.  

So then, the question remains...

"How then shall I live?"

Are we living and breathing to display the only true and lasting treasure - Jesus Christ?  Are we people who are constantly surveying and pointing others to His wondrous cross - His death that makes all the difference in this life and the one to come? Are we counting all earthly things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord?  Are we using our material blessings to show that these things are not our treasure - Christ is?  

Or are we storing up for ourselves treasures on earth? Things that may bring us temporary pleasure, but in the end mean nothing when we come to stand before God?

Don't waste your life!

My Cup Runs Over

When was the last time you were truly thankful? As weak and selfish human beings, we are so prone to forget to give thanks unto the Giver of all good gifts. We are so quick to grumble and complain when things do not go the way we want them to. Rather than being thankful to God for providing abundant rain to water the thirsty ground, we grumble because we are getting wet or because we wanted to get some things done outside. Rather than praising the Lord for granting us senses and the ability to work and interact with people, we complain when we are asked to stay an hour later to help out. No matter what the situation, somehow we can always find something to complain about. This attitude springs from pride and arrogance.

A recently-read quote by C. J. Mahaney helps put things in their proper perspective:

"Let each of us recognize every day that whatever grace we receive from God is so much more than we're worthy of, and indescribably better than the hell we all deserve."

Even on those days when it seems like things could not go any worse, we must remember that we are already receiving so much more than we deserve. What we deserve as sinful, proud, ungrateful beings is nothing less than God's wrath. We deserve hell.

We must remind ourselves daily that the very fact that we are breathing should be ample cause for humble rejoicing and adoration at the great mercy of our Savior! Not only does our God richly supply us with temporal blessings, but he also grants us the greatest gift of all - the answer to our greatest need - grace and peace through Jesus Christ and His saving work on the cross! What a marvelous gift!

I close with a portion of the Puritan prayer "Evening Praise" taken from The Valley of Vision.

I thank Thee for the temporal blessings of this world -
the refreshing air,
the light of the sun,
the food that renews strength,
the raiment that clothes,
the dwelling that shelters,
the sleep that gives rest,
the starry canopy of night,
the summer breeze,
the flowers' sweetness,
the music of flowing streams,
the happy endearments of family, kindred, friends,
Things animate, things inanimate, minister to my comfort.
My cup runs over.
Suffer me not to be insensible to these daily mercies.
Thy hand bestows blessings: Thy power averts evil.
I bring my tribute of thanks for spiritual graces,
the full warmth of faith,
the cheering presence of Thy Spirit,
the strength of Thy restraining will,
the spiking of hell's artillery.

Blessed be my Sovereign Lord!"

Give us humble and thankful hearts, we pray, O God!

Humility

As mentioned earlier, I have recently read C. J. Mahaney's excellent book Humility: True Greatness. This book was a great help and encouragement to me. I don't know about you, but for me, battling against the sin of pride is one of the hardest things I struggle with. Have I seen a decrease in the amount of pride in my life after reading this book? No. To the contrary, I am more aware of areas in my life where I harbor pride than ever before. The author himself mentions that it is necessary to be aware of our greatest enemy, pride, so that we might be faithful and active in waging war against it by pursuing humility.

The book provides many practical and helpful ways to help us do this on a daily and lifelong basis. It also mentions that the best (and only sure) way to truly cultivate humility in our lives is to "Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ."



C. J. Mahaney writes:

"To be truly serious and deliberate in mortifying pride and cultivating greatness, you must each day survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died.

'Fill your affections with the cross of Christ,' write John Owen, 'that there may be no room for sin.' And that includes no room for pride.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote the following about the surest way to pursue humility:

'There is only one thing I know of that crushes me to the ground and humiliates me to the dust, and that is to look at the Son of God, and especially contemplate the cross.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride

Nothing else can do it. When I see that I am a sinner... that nothing but the Son of God on the cross can save me, I'm humbled to the dust....Nothing but the cross can give us this spirit of humility.'

John Stott helps us understand why the cross has this powerful effect:

'Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to be saying to us "I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying." Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.'"



Where can we go when guilty of pride and selfish living? Where can we run to find peace and forgiveness for "this sin of pride that God hates"? The cure is the cross! The only place where we can rightly view our nothingness in light of the glory and love of our merciful Savior! Flee to the cross of the only humble one!

Why Do I Believe in the Doctrine of Election?

A few weeks ago, I had a rather interesting discussion/debate with two co-workers of mine on the doctrine of unconditional election. One of them was strongly opposed to the doctrine, while the other one had never heard of it and was simply interested in learning what it was all about. While I probably did not do a very good job of defending the Scriptural teaching on election in a loving manner, (actually, I think I may have confused my listeners quite a bit), I was thankful for the opportunity, and that the Lord gave me boldness to speak.

Needless to say, I have been thinking about this topic alot lately. I am reading an excellent book by C. J. Mahaney called "Humility: True Greatness" (which, Lord willing, I will post more about later). As I read the chapter on identifying evidences of grace in others, I came across this quote by Spurgeon. It really helped me to see the ultimate reason the doctrine of election stands firm, besides the fact (and I believe Spurgeon's veiwpoint is also based upon this truth) that God is the Sovereign Creator, therefore we should be silent and stand in awe at the mystery of His grace (Romans 9). If we should be asking anything, it ought not to be "Why does God send people to hell if they are just going to go there anyway?" but "Why should God save anyone, when we are all children of His wrath, bent on rebellion against and hatred for Him since the day of our birth?"




"I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I could never find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love."
-Charles H. Spurgeon




Praise the Savior for His Sovereign, saving grace given FREELY to us through the cross! Worship and adore Him and thank Him that our salvation IS a gift, and not something that we can come to on our own. We love only because He first loved us! He chose us, we did not and COULD not choose Him! For how can dead men grab hold of anything to give it life? He is dead! Indeed, we who were once dead in our sins are now alive in Christ by His sovereign electing grace! Soli Deo Gloria!